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Getaways: Mount Desert Island, Maine

April 15, 2008

by
findingDulcinea Staff

Mount Desert Island (pronounced “dessert,” from the name’s French origins), off the east coast of Maine, is known for more than just the breathtaking scenery of Acadia National Park. It’s also where prominent and wealthy families—Rockefellers, Vanderbilts and Fords—built their summer retreats, from the 1880s until the Great Depression. With its natural beauty and a nostalgic nod to the past, the island continues to lure visitors with lobster, whale-watching and boating.

At 47,000 acres, Acadia National Park isn’t the country’s largest, but it attracts its fair share of annual visitors—more than 3 million—and protects most of Mount Desert Island. Covering coastline and hiking trails (about 120 miles), the Park is home to countless birds and wildlife and is known for its pink granite. Take an “eCruise” along the shores of Mount Desert Island to get a glimpse of this spectacular park.

Scientists can’t agree on whether Somes Sound is, technically, a fjord. If it is, the 168-foot-deep gorge would be the only one on the eastern coast of the United States. Regardless of its fjord status, visitors are drawn to its pristine waters and dramatic shoreline. View photos of Somes Sound dotted with sailboats.

Bar Harbor (year-round population: 4800), along Frenchman Bay, is the de facto capital of Mount Desert Island. Once a small shipbuilding and fishing village, the town became the commercial and social center in the 1880s and 1890s when wealthy Americans discovered the island. In 1947, a vast fire destroyed many mansions and other historical buildings. Today, the town is filled with ice cream shops and T-shirt stores, but much of the town’s romantic history remains. To see photos and other memorabilia from Bar Harbor’s gilded age, visit the Bar Harbor Historical Society.

Known as “Big Sur East,” the Mount Desert Island Marathon was ranked by ESPN as the most scenic in the U.S. The event has been held annually in October since 2002 and is now the largest in the state. Take a look at a video of the marathon and its difficult trails, moderated by Mount Desert Island resident Martha Stewart.

In idyllic Southwest Harbor, things are going to the birds. There the Wendell Gilley Museum of Bird Carving displays bird wood carvings from around the world. The museum was named after Wendell Gilley, a Southwest Harbor native and plumber who began carving birds in 1930. Some of the bird carvings can be found on the Wendell Gilley Museum Web site.